The exact boundary of the West Country is unclear and often a source of heated debate between the different counties, many of which have strong identities. What can be said is that it is an area that shares many interesting cultural similarities. Most noticeably the dialect.
West Country dialects can vary but share many similarities, most noticeably the strong rhetoric pronunciation, often stereotyped as rural or pirate speech. These dialects can also be found in neighbouring counties, but are more uncommon due to the influence of large population shifts out of London.
West Country people are often portrayed as warm, welcoming, forgiving and easy going folk and certainly this reputation has helped enhance the tourist industry. Other aspects of the culture include an almost religious obsession with rough farm produced scrumpy cider. Many folk songs about the juice of the apple are widely known and will be readily preformed by the locals.
West Country people are often portrayed in the British media as simple country folk, however be aware that people are not comfortable with this London centric regionalist view and might well find such comparisons extremely offensive to the point of declaring independence.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about West Country
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in West Country - updated May 2024
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West Country Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
